9/7/99 Athens Earthquake

Updated 9/9/99

A magnitude 5.8 quake struck a northern suburb of Athens at 11:56 GMT 9/7/99. 70 people were killed, 2,000 injured and 50 are still missing as rescuers dig through the rubble of over 100 collapsed buildings. Inspectors are expected to condemn thousands of damaged buildings. Most of the city's population spent the night outdoors in fear of aftershocks. The rescue efforts were hampered by heavy rain the day after the quake. The government declared a one day state of emergency. Investigations are promised into shoddy building practices, as in the much more devastating Turkish quake in August. "We will look at this with great care," said Interior Minister Vasso Papandreou. "We have some of the strictest earthquake regulations around, and if they were kept, we should not have had this much damage." See also the following news stories:

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